[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”left” asin=”B00AN5LCV8″ cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51aRPF%2Bi4jL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”catfilms-20″ width=”114″][easyazon_link asin=”B00AN5LCV8″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”catfilms-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]A Simple LIfe (2012)[/easyazon_link] was inspired by the true story of producer Roger Lee and his servant, the film depicts the relationship between Roger (Lau) and Ah Tao, (“Sister Peach” in Chinese) (Deanie Ip), a woman who has worked for four generations of Roger’s family and served as Roger’s amah.
She is initially seen old but healthy, engaging in cooking, shopping, and housekeeping duties at Roger’s apartment, where she lives and keeps a well-trained brown and white cat who has the round face of a Persian but is still a short-hair. Though it is not revealed whether the cat is a male or a female, its name is Kaka, and it is well-trained, waiting for its owner in the shoe rack near the door when she and Roger go out.

When Ah Tao (Deanie Ip), a servant to the Leung family for nearly 60 years, suffers a stroke, her medical conditions eventually lead her to quit her job and move into a local nursing home. The man she cared for since he was a boy, Roger (Andy Lau), takes it upon himself to help her adjust to her new life, which involves getting to know her new nursing home family, a motley crew of unique and quirky residents. As Ah Tao’s health deteriorates, roles reverse, with Roger now taking charge of her care.
At one point, while others get to visit with extended families, Ah Tao remains in the nursing home, symbolically darkened and deserted, over the Chinese New Year holiday. The director of the nursing home, portrayed as a sympathetic, if bureaucratic, figure, allows Ah Tao’s cat Kaka to temporarily stay with her in the nursing home, at least for the duration of the holiday. The substance of a conversation with Roger and the family by phone spells out the fact that the nursing home’s rules were bent to allow the cat’s visit. Ah Tao seems to be very happy during and because of the visit from her cat. Though the nursing home is not the nicest-looking place, the more ambulatory residents have enviable freedom of the nearby town area, which might not be allowed in a US nursing home. As Ah Tao’s physical and mental condition deteriorates, however, she makes her way from the nursing home to friends’ and families homes to less ‘comfortable’ and more antiseptic surroundings for her last days.